In other words, without getting too much into the weeds of things, active noise cancellation works by the device "monitoring" the outside noise and emitting an inverted soundwave, or what Treski calls "the anti phase," to neutralize or negate the external cacophony.

Apple's AirPods 4 are getting an AirPods Pro feature to help you out when the case goes missing. They're small. They're light. And they'll be easy to misplace. But the just-announced AirPods 4 will include a new feature familiar to owners of the AirPods Pro that will help you find your case when it gets lost.

The new iPhone 16 smartphones and Apple Watch Series 10 smartwatches are chock full of new and enhanced health, fitness and safety features. At the same time Apple is updating the AirPods Pro 2 so they can be used as over-the-counter hearing aids. A new feature, called Hearing Protection, will also be unlocked.